Method of maintaining equality of weight in submarine boats while in operation.



P WINAND METHOD OI MAINTAINING EQUALITY 0F WEIGHT IN SUBMARINE BOATS WHILE IN APPLICATION FILED OUT. 31, 1906.

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953,881. Y Patented Apr. 5,1910.

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%/7Z;M/Q 2 1 2 PAUL WINAND, or conocnncnammv.

xn'rnon or. mumramme EQUALITY or WEIGHT m OPERATION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

su'simnmn Boers WHILE m Patented Apr. 5, 1910.

Application' filed October 31, 1906. Serial are. 341,511.

To allwhom tt mag concern:

Be it known that I, PAUL WINAND, engineer, a-subject of the King of Bel ium, residing at 1 Sudermannstrasse, Co ogne-onthe-Rhine, Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of rine Boats While in Operation; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention,

such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it-appertains to make and use the same.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 illustrates, in section, an arrangement for properly prabticing the invention; Fig. 2 is a similar view, showing a modified form of apparatus. Fifi?) is a side elevation of an arrangement 0 the a paratus showing the tanks of successively dhcreasing volumes.

It is well known that. it is important to kee the total weight of a submarine boat unc anged while.1n o eration. To-efi'ect this'result the weight 0 the substances consumed during the operation to berelaced by an equal weight ofwater taken om the surrounding water and it has been proposed to use the 'vessels containing the substances-employed for operating the boat to receive, this counterbalancingwater and to displace, gradually, the substance to be consumed by means of the water in case-the substances are not soluble in water. I

The present invention relates to a method which permits the use of the vessels containing the substances employed in operating the boat, for receiving the counterbalancing water when the said substances are soluble in water, and said method contemplates the interposition \of a suitable medium between the substances and the displacing .water to keep them separated, said medium preferaloly being one insoluble in either the substance or the water. The simplest mode of carrying out this method is to use as intermediate bod a medium which follows the consumed substance at the rate of its consum ion under the influence of the ressure of t e inflow water. case t substance has a higher specific weight than water the volume of water to be introduced is greater than the volume of the substance Another mode consists in makmg of an intermediate layer of a fluid of such a nature that it is practlcally insolucohol as fuel. Maintaining Equality of Weight in'Submable in the consumed substance, as well as in water and that has a specific gravity intermediate those of the two other bodies, as is,-

for example, used the case when mineral oil is as an intermediate substance with al- This intermediate substance is introduced first in sufiicient quantity after which the water may be admitted. If the vessel-issubjected to oscillating motions a m1x-1ng of the liquids might result if the separating surface has a considerable area. A gas may also be used to form an intermediate layer between the substance being consumed and, the water replacing the same. In-this case the consumed substance should be distributed among a number of vessels which are emptied in succession and which are successively filled with water as they become empty. If the consumed substance is specifically heavier than water, one or more of the vessels should notbe filled therewith, in order that the total tained unchanged. In using N0 for ex ample, whose specificgravit is 1.4, only 7 out of 11 equal vessels shoul be filled enginall. with NO while finally 10 vessels won d be filled with water and 1 remain empty. It is ever, not to ma e all the vessels of the same size, but to have them of successively smaller size in the order inwhichthey are emptied, as conventionally illustrated in 3. By employing this arrangement of vessels the unemployedvolume or s ace may be reduced to a minlmum, to wit, w en each subsequent vessel is made smaller than the preceding one in the same proportion as the specific gravities of the water and the'consumed sub stance. When using N0 for example, each vessel should be 1.4.- times smaller than the preceding one, so that if six vessels be emarticularly desirable, how-- weight may be mainpleyed the summation of the individual volumes of the successive-vessels is represented At the be inning, only the largest vessel having a relative volume of 5.4 is empty,

and inasmuch as this vessel never contains any of the consumedsubstanee, it need not fulfil the same conditions as the other was sels containing the substance in refspectbf shape, material and location; at the fimsh only the smallest vessel having a volume of 1, that is to sa 6% of the total volume of the vessels, w' be ergidpty and therefore constitute an unemploy space. If the upper part of each vessel is connected to the lower part of the subsequent one by means of a small pipe the liquid will be effectively displaced by air or by the vapors of the liquid, as the case may be.

\Vhen several vessels are being used, the operation may be as follows: All vessels being connected together in one series, water is introduced in the first one which is empty up to that time, while the substance consumed is taken out of the last one of the series, and, meanwhile, the air that serves as an intermediate body passes gradually from one vessel into the next one in succession. It is necessary however to interpose certain regulatin or distributing devices between the vesse s in order to revent the water or the air from mixing with the consumed substance. A simple solution of the problem of the interconnection consists in connecting the upper and lower part of each vessel with the next one'in such away that the lower connection is kept open and the upper one shut as long as there is liquid in both vessels and that, by means of a float, the lower connection is closed and the upper one opened as soon as the first of the two vessels becomes empty.

Figs. 1 and 2 illustrate different arrangements of the interconnection. In Fig. 1, showing 3 of the vessels, 13,, contains water, B air and B the liquid consumed, u,, 11,, u are the lower, 0,, 0 O, the upper connections. Each vessel carries a fioat S S 8,, whose specific gravity is intermediate that of water and that of the liquid, which in the present case is supposed to be heavier than water. In vessels IB and'B, the float is therefore in its lower osition, in vessel B in its upper position. ach float is provided at its top and bottom with a valve which, in its lower position, closes the lower connection a, and u, (in B and B and, in its upper posit-ion the upper connection 0 (in B,). If water is now introduced in B (through 0 it passes farther on through 0 into B and displaces the air contained in the latter into B, through 0,. The liquid contained in B is displaced through the lower connection u into the next ves sel until the surface of the liquid reaches the float. The float then descends closing u, and opening 0 so that the air may enter the next vessel and displace the liquid contained therein. Fig. 2 shows another arrangement of apparatus for accomplishing the same result and including a series of interconnected tanks as C C C1,. The upper connection between successive tanks is effected by open pipes so constructed that the liquid therein forms a seal. The connections from the bottom of each tank to the top of the next one contain floating balls 8,, s 8, which act as valves when the descend and engage seats underneath. T e upper connections P P P etc., will,of necessity, be carried to a greater height and be longer than the lower connections '0 1'1 0,, etc., so that when both pipes are open to the passage of fluid, the latter will pass through the lower pipes which oifer less h drostatic resistancethan the upper pipes. nder conditions of operation shown in Fig. 2 the balls .9 and s, have closed the connections from the bottoms of the preceding tanks while the ball 8 floats in the liquid and therefore does not rest on its seat. The upper connections P and I being open, water passes through the first one into C and air passes through the second one into 0 This air displaces the liquid through c, into the next vessel because P is shut or sealed by the liquid remaining therein. Not until C is entirel em tied and until air reaches the ball .9 oes t e latter descend on its seat and close. 2),. The pressure consequently rises in C and, through this rise of pressure, the liquid contained in P and forming a seal therein is forced out of same, that is, the liquid seal gives way, and the air can pass into C, through P What I' claim is: p r

1. The method of compensating for weight of liquid substances consumedin operatin submarine boats, which consists in replacing the consumed substances by water from without the boat, and 'inter osing between the water and the said su stances a body insoluble in both.

2. The method of compensating for weight of liquid substances consumed in operatlng submarine boats, which consists 1n replacing the consumed substances by water from without the boat, and inter osing between the water and the said su stances a movable transferring medium which we vents the intermingling of thesubstance' and the water.

3. The method of compensating for weight of liquid substances consumed m operating submarine boats, which conslsts 1n 1 replacing the consumed substances by water from without the boat, and inter osing between the water and the said su stances a fluid'body insoluble in both.

4. The method of compensating *ior weight of liquid substances consumed in operatin submarine boats, which consists in subdividing the containers for the consumed substance into compartments or units, replacing the consumed substances by water from without the boat, and interposmgbm tween the water and the said su stances a fluid body insoluble in both.

5. The method of compensating for weight of liquid substances consumed 1n operating submarine boats, which consists in subdividing the containers for the consumed substance into compartments or units, re-

placing the substance in said compartments 13 or units successively by water from without the boat, and interposing between the water and the consumed substance a fluid body insoluble in both.

6. The method of compensating for weight of liquid substances consumedin operating submarine boats, which consists in subdividing the containers for the consumed substance into compartmentsor units, each of which bears a volumetric ratio to that next in the series substantially equal to the ratio of the specific gravities of the water and the substance consumed emptying the vessels of the said substance successively, replacing the substance by water from without" the boat, and interposing between the water and the consumed substance a fiuid'body insoluble in both.

7 Apparatus for compensating for weight n of. liquid substances consumed in operating submarine boats in wh1ch said substances are replaced ,by water from without the boat, comprising a series of vessels orreceptacles to receive the substance and then the water,

connections from the lower part of each vessel to the next in the series, connections between the upperportions of successive "essels, a body of air or other fluid between the .substance consumed and the replacing water, and means for controlling t of the substance consumed, the intermediate fluid medium and the water to and from the connections from the lower part of each "essel-to the neXt'in the series, connections between the upper portions of successive vessels, a body ofair or other fluid between the substance consumed and the replacing water, means for opening the connections from the lower portions of the vessels for the egress of the substance to be consumed and for closing the same against egress of the water, and meansfor opening theupper connections to the ow of the intermediate fluid and the water in succession as the respective vessels are emptied of said substance.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

PAUL WINAND.

Witnesses:

' CHARLES LE'SIMBLE,

LOUIS VANDORNY 

